Neptune was in a rather pleasant mood today — of course, she usually tended to be in a pleasant mood as a general rule of things, so this wasn't really an exception to the usual. She was just easygoing like that. Today was no different — it was the usual. Perhaps she might waste the day away goofing off, as she was prone to do, or maybe she'd get in one quest or two... If her internet connection gave out and there was nothing left in the fridge, anyway.

As it happened, fate had something else in store for her today.

"Sis? Can you get the phone?"

Nearly falling off of the couch (in her defense, she had been upside down), Neptune did her best to right herself upon Nepgear's sudden appearance in the room. She had been challenging herself (in other words, she was getting sucked into Chirper and NepTube trends) and seeing how many different ways she could play this RPG, and after doing it blindfolded, she was pretty sure upside down was going to be easy! Thanks to Nepgear, though, her amazing roll had been halted...! Worse, that annoying noise was breaking her concentration something fierce! How could she possibly get done playing in time to dump a bucket of ice cream on her head before dinner now?!

Wait, what was that noise...? Hadn't Nepgear said something? Something that she needed to do... Something she needed to get...

Oh yeah! The phone! Nepgear was probably still waiting for her to get it!

"You got it, Nep Jr.! Leave it to me!"

The CPU set her game on pause, no longer perturbed by being interrupted, and lazily sauntered over towards the nearest phone. Part of her probably hoped that she might just miss it, and could go back to her game guilt free... on the other hand, though, another part of her hoped that something more interesting than playing an RPG she had already played a dozen times in "new" and "different" ways might await her on the other end of the line should she answer it. It could always be something boring, like Noire complaining about something totally tsundere, or something Neptune wasn't interested in too, like Vert trying to get her to come over and play one of those games with her, but there was always that chance...! Maybe one of them wanted to do something fun? Or maybe it was something or someone else entirely?

Upon arriving at the still ringing phone and seeing who was calling, Neptune found a grin spreading across her lips and decided she wanted to answer it after all.

"Heya Blanc! What's up?"

"Heya Blanc! What's up?"

On the other side of the world, the CPU of Lowee shifted her phone from one hand to the other and relaxed in her seat. She had been considering hanging up at that moment. Knowing Neptune, it was perfectly possible the CPU wouldn't even bother to look at the phone, much less answer it — going over there herself had crossed Blanc's mind, but for what she was calling over, that would just be... unnecessary? Yes, unnecessary seemed to fit well enough. Unnecessary, just like a lot of other things seemed to be these days.

"I wanted to thank you." The brunette glanced from her phone to the stack of papers before her — reports, normally annoying things to go through, had come in regarding the sales of her twin sisters' biggest release of the year, maybe even the decade, and needless to say, it had exceeded all expectations. The smallest of smiles graced her face as she recalled the expressions she had seen on her sisters earlier. "The new Mega Mash Mothers did great. It was Rom and Ram's first time with one, but people still really..."

Normally, or rather, normally once upon a time, such cooperation between the nations was a rarity, but as Gamindustri enjoyed more and more peace, more and more the goddesses found that they too enjoyed the occasional time working together. For the most part, this simply meant allowing games to release on more than one console, maybe even collaborating a little... Sometimes even all of them would pitch in ideas, nothing much. But in special, rare cases... It led to the unusual sorts of shenanigans that Planeptune and Lowee were starting to become known for pulling off. Shenanigans that some citizens of Gamindustri called forced or unnecessary, but of course, they went out and got the games anyway, now didn't they?

Blanc really wished those people would just pick a side and stay with it instead of trying to be on both — not that she particularly cared. It was just...

"'Course people liked it! Have you played it? It's super fun! Oh, get this, get this! I totally saw Nepgear smuggling it under her pillow last night." On the other end of the line, Neptune erupted into a fit of giggles, though they were hampered somewhat by the slight feeling of guilt she felt at laughing at her sister's expense like this... But it was just so funny! After all... "You should see her face, Blanc, it's priceless. I'm pretty sure she feels bad for having so much fun with it since she's already played it more than she played Noire and Uni's try at one of these."

Hearing that, Blanc couldn't help but smirk a little at the thought of that particular release.

"Serves them right." She commented offhandedly, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes. In a way, doing this made it almost feel like she was sitting next to the CPU on the other end if she spoke to her like this. "Wait until my version comes out. Noire probably won't look you in the eye for weeks for working with us, you know."

It was strange. Blanc had said something completely unnecessary just then, hadn't she? After all, for all intents and purposes, it would make much more sense for Neptune to want to choose to work with Lastation for a collaboration like this, yet every time the option for Planeptune to do it had come up, it had been Lowee. Why push the matter...? Was she trying to push Neptune away?

"Hahaha... You think Noire is still upset about it...?"

The idea that she could collaborate with Noire like she was with Blanc, despite Blanc's concerns, apparently didn't even register to Neptune. At least if her response just now was anything to go off of. Despite how the issue was apparently not even an issue at all, Blanc found herself relaxing again. She hadn't even realized she had tensed up. It didn't matter, though. She felt fine now.

"I don't doubt this stings a little, at least. Heh. That's just what they get." Lowee's CPU smirked as she thought about how the two black haired sisters were probably taking this right now. It had been a while since their shameless knockoff had come out, but it still got brought up on the net — or so Vert never failed to mention when the topic of Blanc and the twins' games were mentioned during get togethers — often enough that Blanc was sure that that pompous tsundere would be feeling it right now. "Maybe they'll decide not to pull this again now that they've gotten a taste of how this feels."

"Wow Blanc... I'm seeing a whole new side of you today!" On the other end of the phone, Neptune laughed at herself. Blanc wasn't sure why — in fact, she felt taken off guard by the other CPU's comment, if anything. What exactly did she mean by "new side" of her? "Yippee! My cliche catchphrase skill just leveled up!"

Again, the CPU found herself deflating somewhat. Had she said something wrong? Something unnecessary again? Maybe. She had just called to thank Neptune, after all, yet here she was, practically gloating that she had come out on top of Noire... Except, the thing was, she wasn't always bothered when Noire tried to imitate her. In fact, she normally just didn't even bat an eyelash. The Lastation Moving had been as blatant as it got, after all, even more so than the game they were talking about now — but Blanc hadn't really even cared when that had happened.

So why the hell did she care so much now? Why was now so... important? Why was it that, unlike any of the other times anyone had ripped her off or even when she had maybe done the same to them, it was this time that Blanc felt so... good about beating Noire? To the point that she felt like rubbing it into the faces of all parties involved, even? What was different about this...? There wasn't anything different this time, was there? Certainly nothing involving Noire... Her game was unquestionably the better one. There wasn't anything she was really competing with Noire over, was there?

Maybe it was just because it was specifically that kind of game? After all the jokes about the game ruining friendships, it would be a little funny if something like this actually did have an effect on her relationship with the other goddesses. Judging by the likes of Vert and her MMOs, it was certainly possible...

Speaking of all of that nonsense, though, that reminded Blanc of the other reason she had wanted to call Neptune in this way — or rather, it reminded her of the other half of her "thank you" for her fellow CPU.

Clearing her throat, as if to let Neptune know she was about to breach a new topic, Blanc set her unnecessary questions aside. It was doing her little good thinking like this now.

"Neptune. I have an early copy of mine and a console warm and waiting to go, if you're interested. I haven't tried it out yet and your shares aren't going anywhere because of it, so..." She let the offer hang in the air. Knowing Neptune, she probably didn't need to wait for long before the gamer on the other end of the line reached the conclusion that Blanc, to her surprise, found that she was actually... really hoping for.

What she got was what she wanted, but in a very unexpected way.

A loud noise that forced Blanc to move the phone away from her ear momentarily, followed by the sound of someone in the background yelling.

"S-Sis! At least close the window if you're going to leave like that! It's cold today...! Ohhh, goodness, she's so far away she can't even hear me now..."

Blanc slapped her forehead with her palm, groaning as she imagined what had just transpired over in Planeptune's Basilicom. Leave it to Neptune to drop everything — phone included — at the prospect of getting to play the new Mega Mash Moms early.

And yet...

The small CPU realized, for some strange reason, that that made her happy.

She didn't understand.

Neptune's arrival had been... memorable, to put it lightly. Blanc had known that she was probably flying here at top speed, based on what she had heard over the phone, but she hadn't expected for Neptune — or rather, Purple Heart — to arrive before she had finished preparing everything. Sure, she had said the game was ready to play, but she hadn't meant that literally...

"Blanc? I came as quickly as I could... Hold on. You said it was ready on the phone, but it's not even on..."

"Don't be stupid, I don't keep my stuff on all the time. I may be the goddess, but I still have bills to pay."

"You knew I was coming."

"... You're being obstinate today. I wanted to wait for you and see everything from the beginning together. Besides, what about food? You can't do this without snacks, right?"

"But... Blanc... The game...!"

"Neptune...!"

"... Fine..."

And let her say this: Seeing Purple Heart that excited for something... and then get so disappointed? Blanc didn't know if she wanted to remember that moment for the rest of her life or wipe it from her memory as soon as possible so her mental image of Neptune in that form could stay untainted.

On the bright side, Neptune had soon returned to her normal form after that, and now the two of them were in the process of raiding the kitchen. Blanc hadn't really planned on anything in particular for snacks, she'd just figured it was appropriate, but now that Neptune was Neptune again, apparently food was a lot more of a priority than it was when she was Purple Heart — meaning her companion's reaction to not getting to play the game in this form was actually significantly less "severe" seeming than in her (supposedly) more serious form.

Blanc truly wasn't sure how she should feel about this newly obtained information about the two sides of Neptune.

"Oh, how about chips?" Luckily, the CPU in question was there to pull her away from her ruminating and bring her back to the irrelevant task at hand: snack food. Holding up more bags than the girl had arms, Neptune grinned at Blanc. "We could mix 'em up in a bowl and have a 'mash' of snacks ourselves!"

The quieter one of the two tilted her head at the suggestion.

"Why not just get the bag of Nintex Mix instead? It's got a little of everything already." Pointing to the cabinet that Neptune had pulled the bags of chips out of, the CPU nodded towards one of the bags that had gotten left behind — it had all sorts of things in it, just like what Neptune was already suggesting they do with the snacks, and then some. With that done, she reached over to pluck the bags out of Neptune's hands, shaking her head at the other girl's idea. "I don't want to waste these if we're only going to eat a little of them. Well, you probably could eat all of them..."

"Uwah... Blanc, isn't that like... really blatant product placement?" Blanc frowned at the wary look Neptune was giving her — clearly purposely ignoring the comment about Neptune's eating habits (or just not caring). Neptune responded to the frown by sticking her tongue out at the frowning CPU. "Awww, don't make a face like that before such a super special event! I'll get that thing if that's what you want, so go get the game ready for real this time or I'll steal it."

Blanc sighed, shaking her head at the mischievous look Neptune was offering her after that last comment. They both knew that that would never happen. This was just how Neptune was. Always saying and doing ridiculous things.

Well... She didn't dislike that about her.

Strangely enough, she found she disliked very little about the other CPU these days. There was a time when the two of them had a rivalry even fiercer than the playful one Neptune shared with Noire — that thought immediately raised that confusion again, so Blanc quickly dismissed it — but now, they seemed to get along swimmingly... Or maybe they had a playful rivalry now too?

Which was it?

Did Blanc not care anymore? Or did Neptune?

Which was it?

Why had it changed?

Making her way over to the game console in the next room over, for some reason, Blanc felt herself moving slower than necessary. Everything about her today seemed to have been going like this, now that she thought about it. Neptune was as eager as Blanc had ever seen her, yet strangely, the brunette was in no particular rush — or rather... was she waiting? What for? Neptune would be in in just a moment with the food, it wasn't like her "waiting for you" excuse held any water anymore.

"Huh? It's still not on?"

Nearly jumping out of her skin — or whatever the equivalent would be for a quiet type like her — Blanc swore in surprise and snapped the power button of the Lowee U before her on, before shooting a half-hearted glare in Neptune's direction, which promptly quieted the complaining CPU in her tracks.

"Okay okay, you're so testy today! This should be fun." Sighing dramatically, Neptune plopped down on the couch facing the television and set the bowl of snacks in front of the coffee table in front of it, watching the screen expectantly. She didn't even look at Blanc as she patted the seat next to her, beckoning the other over without so much as a single glance in her direction — not now that the screen was on. "Now get your butt over here so I can start kicking it! The intro's starting!"

Despite being ignored, this treatment actually settled Blanc down quite a lot. She wouldn't have expected anything different from the purple haired CPU. It was good, in fact. If Blanc had to be weird today, weird for reasons she still couldn't quite grasp, then Neptune could be normal enough — annoyingly so — for the both of them. Someone had to be...

But with Neptune acting like that, how could Blanc not get fired up a little herself?

"The only butt getting kicked here is yours!"

"Bring it on!"

She wasn't sure how much time had passed when they finally stopped to actually take a few bites of their snacks. Blanc had, naturally, been winning most of the games, and every time she had tried to stop to reach for the bowl, Neptune would grab her hand to stop her. She would stare at Blanc with puppy dog eyes, pouting, and ask for another round first, and Blanc would begrudgingly concede. This would continue, again and again, but every time, Neptune did just a little better... or maybe Blanc was just a little bit more distracted.

It wasn't necessary.

Neptune didn't need to do that.

She just had to ask normally.

That was all she needed to do if she wanted to keep going.

It wasn't like Blanc wasn't enjoying herself too.

If she had just asked normally, Blanc would have been able to respond normally too.

Instead, she just had to grab her like a lifeline, she just had to look at her like Blanc's continuing was her only hope (... of eventually beating Blanc, the CPU had to remind herself once they started playing again and Neptune returned to normal), she just had to do all of these completely pointless things...!

It built up, round after round of this game, and eventually, Blanc was unable to focus on the battle before her when the battle in her mind was taking up so much of her attention — when her mind kept reminding her what was coming if she won, distracting her even more.

It was so damn annoying!

Get out of her mind, stop distracting her, just let her play the darn game already!

It wasn't meant to be — and it figured that as soon as Neptune finally got a win, she grabbed the bowl, nestled it between the two of them, and started chowing down. Now that it was finally here, however, Blanc realized she wasn't all that hungry anymore. That was typical, she supposed. It wasn't like losing had ruined her appetite or anything, it was just...

What?

She wasn't sure. She had been feeling confused ever since she had called up Neptune this afternoon, and she hadn't been able to place why. Such an action wasn't even necessary in the first place. She had already been planning on giving Neptune a copy of the game for free once it released, just as she had the last time they had cooperated like this. She had already thanked Neptune when they had made the initial plans for this new game as well. Nothing had really changed, yet at the same time, it seemed like something very significant had.

She shook her head, reaching for the bowl of snacks to start eating some of it herself.

This was all pointless. She was wasting time she could be spending plotting her next character choice — she needed to take Neptune by surprise and make a comeback. Why was she so concerned about beating someone who wasn't even here and had absolutely nothing to do with this when Neptune was right here and waiting to get pummeled into the ground?

Well, pummeled into the ground on the screen, anyway. Actually, more like pummeled off the screen, since that was how Mega Mash Moms worked, but...

Blanc sighed. How annoying. She was annoying herself more than Neptune was annoying her today. It must be setting some kind of Gamindustri world record.

"Blanc? You ready for the next round?"

Surprisingly, Neptune seemed to have notice this change in her demeanor — but in typical Neptune fashion, had decided that the best way to deal with it was to plunge right into the next battle.

"'Cause I'm starting it up even if you aren't!"

For some reason, Blanc's eyes settled on Neptune rather than the screen before her. The brunette found herself recalling the questions she had been asking herself this afternoon while the other CPU hummed an off-key tune along with the music of the game as she got the next match loading. Even now, she still felt that strange sense of... something. Victory...? Over that other CPU that wasn't even here...? But why...? She couldn't quite grasp it, and it all just...

Before Blanc could continue down this train of thought, the over-sized speakers the television was attached to began blaring off the names of the characters they had selected — their mascots, naturally — and then started playing exciting sounding theme music as the match began. As numbers flashed on screen and counted down to the start of their battle, Neptune quickly turned to Blanc as the game finally readied itself for them, a wide smile on her face. A smile awaiting the next showdown between the two of them — and just the two of them. A smile awaiting continued games played together.

A smile from Neptune for the CPU next to her and that CPU only — no one else.

Awkward understanding dawned on her.

It clicked.

Light heat rose to her cheeks.

"Oh. That's why."

At the same time... Faced with that smile, despite the implications of what she had just realized about herself, there ultimately was just only one thing the CPU could do in the face of such radiance.

Blanc smiled back.